Before I arrived at the New Vic I used to resist thinking about Christmas until the first day of December. No matter how much supermarkets would throw at me from September onwards, I was determined to avoid spending a third of my year celebrating Christmas. So it was somewhat disconcerting to arrive at the New Vic and realize that here, Christmas begins in January – at the very latest. In fact, I’m already well underway with planning Christmas 2009
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A kick-start day for a project Borderlines is running with schools across the county. Next January they will present a piece on our main stage as part of the United Nations’ International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Today, the schools involved in the project meet for the first time; and over the intervening months Borderlines will continue to work in their schools, sharing ideas and helping to develop the event.
Many of the young people are studying the Second World War, and so this work is conducted in association with Staffordshire’s history adviser to schools. But it’s also an opportunity to discuss atrocities and human rights abuses across the ages and across the world. For many young people this is the first time they’ll have heard of Palestine or Rwanda; of Darfur or Bosnia. The perspective the sessions give them enables them to look at the wider world in a new way, but also to explore issues of diversity and prejudice in their own communities.
It’s very valuable work, but it’s also one of the most controversial things we do. Perhaps not surprisingly: it’s an emotive subject. But it also continues to be such a relevant one: part of the political landscape even in the UK; even today.
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It’s the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s annual visit, and they’ve brought us not one production but three – all ghost stories, full of tricks and surprises.
Last week it was all hands on deck as the sets turned up for the first time, had to be fitted to our stage, lit, rehearsed in.
The actors brought an air of calm with them when they arrived on Wednesday, going in to their first night with the quiet confidence born of knowing the play well.
But that was the only oasis of calm in the week: box office is rushed off their feet, eating lunch on the job and skipping tea breaks in an effort to answer demand for tickets; the restaurant is meeting huge demand; the auditorium is packed to the gills every night. A great way to start the new term.
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And this afternoon we welcome another new cast, as the Stephen Joseph Theatre arrive with an Alan Ayckbourn season including his latest, Life and Beth. I’m looking forward to seeing it tomorrow night.
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Back from holiday to the read through of Dangerous Corner. Such a pleasure to listen to, as revelation after revelation is put on the table, examined and the repercussions dealt with. It’s a brilliant piece of writing – at once a period piece very much of its time and a very modern crime procedural. It was good to welcome a new cast into the building, too.
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